Upcoming Classes Through June

I’m in the process of adding a section on the website that permanently lists what’s coming up – it will be here and currently holds a duplicate of the info in this post. Please pass the URL to this link along to anyone you think might be interested!

I’m also adding a testimonial page, until that’s finished:

Why take a class with me? As both a writer and editor, I bring a focus that lets me advise you from both sides of the desk. My experience as the fiction editor of award-winning Fantasy Magazine as well as short story collections and anthologies combined with the fact that I’m a working, selling writer helps me provide you with solid, up-to-date market advice for both online and print publishing.

My teaching experience includes Johns Hopkins University, Indiana University, Towson State University, and Bellevue College and I’ve studied with John Barth, Stephen Dixon, Octavia Butler, and Connie Willis, to name just a couple of people I’ve had the pleasure of learning from. Former students can testify that I’m an active, engaged, and entertaining instructor who gives careful and considered feedback on their work.

These are taught online, using Google+ Hangouts, which has proven really robust and easy to use. You need a computer with a microphone at a minimum but a webcam is best, so people can see you participate. Each class is limited to eight or nine students, depending on whether or not there will be a guest speaker. Necessary equipment: a computer with a webcam; headphones are suggested.Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction Short Stories
A six week workshop focusing on the basics of writing speculative fiction short stories, including plotting, creating believable and engaging characters, world-building, what to do with a story once it’s finished, dealing with editors and markets, and other necessities. Students will have the opportunity to workshop at least one story over the course of the class and will also be writing and sharing weekly writing assignments. Session length will be 2 or 2 1/2 hours, starting at 9:30 AM PST, depending on the number of students (a full class needs more time allotted to workshopping).
Note about the different sections: I’m offering a variety of times, because I’ve had students in some pretty scattered geographical locations, but unfortunately, free weekends are scarce in the next few months. Any session that doesn’t get at least four students will be cancelled; if you’re signed up for it, you’ll be given the option of shifting to another section or having your money refunded.

Editing Basics
This three week workshop targets editing both other people’s works as well as your own. Topics include how to edit at both the sentence and story/book level, working well with writers, theory of ToCs, electronic publishing, copyright, and making a living as an editor. Each session is two hours.

Week One: Developmental Editing

Week Two: Copy-editing

Week Three: Editing and Publishing

Dates: Sundays, 9:30-11:30 AM PST, June 10, 17, 24
Cost: $299

Flash Fiction Workshop
A three-hour session focusing on flash fiction consisting of a mixture of lecture, in-class writing exercises, discussion of how to turn fragments into flash, and an overview of flash fiction markets. Each occurrence is a separate workshop – pick the date you prefer.
Dates: Saturday, March 17 1-4 pm PST (very few slots left), Wednesday, May 23 6-9 PM PST
Cost: $99

First Pages:
Co-taught with Louise Marley. Louise and I have done this workshop several times with great success – this is our online version. You give us the first page of your novel and we’ll critique and discuss it in a way that will be helpful with the overall work as well as talking about agents, and editors and how important the first page is when engaging them. More than one student has told me this was the single most useful workshop they’ve ever had. Single two-hour session.
Date: April 22, 9:30-11:30 AM PST; June date still to be determined
Cost: $99 until midnight PST March 31, 2012; $149 after that

Establishing an Online Presence for Writers
Not sure what to do about blogging and social networks? Concerned about using them effectively rather than as a means of cat-vacuuming and other forms of needless procrastination? In this two hour class, we’ll talk about what works and what doesn’t, the basic presence a writer should have online, how to go about measuring what you’re doing to see if it’s working, and how to use it all to sell books.
Date: June 23, 1-3 PM PST
Cost: $79 until midnight PST March 31, 2012; $99 after that

If you have previously taken a class with me, you are entitled to a 10% discount on class prices, including early reservation prices.

To reserve a section, please make your payment via Paypal to spezzatura AT gmail.com and indicate which class(es) you are signing up for.
Comment if you would like to be added to the mailing list to receive news of new classes and workshops as they occur.

About Cat

Cat Rambo lives, writes, and teaches by the shores of an eagle-haunted lake in the Pacific Northwest. Her 200+ fiction publications include stories in Asimov's, Clarkesworld Magazine, and Tor.com. Her short story, "Five Ways to Fall in Love on Planet Porcelain," from her story collection Near + Far (Hydra House Books), was a 2012 Nebula nominee. Her editorship of Fantasy Magazine earned her a World Fantasy Award nomination in 2012. She is the current President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). She is currently working on Hearts of Tabat, the sequel to her first novel, Beasts of Tabat. A new story collection, Neither Here Nor There, appears from Hydra House this fall.